We sat on the left side :)Back to breakfast, I did not take a picture, but I'm sure you can imagine breakfast...the street in front of the hotel is one-way, and sort of has two lanes...but these are not clearly marked....vehicles just drive...and hundreds and hundreds of scooters and motorbikes. So far the most I've seen on a motorbike has been 4 people...mom and dad with one child sandwiched between and the smaller child up front like a hood ornament. People of all ages are driving scooters and bikes...well, all ages starting at late teens. We've been told that young people cannot legally drive till they are 18, but that many break that law.
After breakfast we headed off to church which looked to be about 1.2 km away. The streets were amazingly empty, I guess because it was Sunday and still early.
We has travelled perhaps half way to church when we were approached by a man handing out pamphlets to advertise a company. They were in fact "tickets" which we opened to reveal a prize we had "won". He was clearly excited because Bob had won a special prize and if we went to claim it, he would receive a nice bonus. He was so genuinely happy that we told him that we had to go to church first, but would go after. He got us a taxi to the church and waited for us :)
It was actually a good chance meeting because the church was farther than we thought and we would definitely have been late.
Quick photos taken on our way in.We have determined that this is our fifth different language mass (counting the French one years ago in Montreal ). Anyway, the service was lovely and the music lively and wonderful. We left to meet our contact and get a free taxi to collect our amazing prize.
Inside and outside the church.
As we left we realized that there were people sitting on the steps outside participating in the mass!
Those of you who have thought a bit about the "back" story here and our chance meeting and free gift will no doubt have figured out that we were in for an advertising spiel...and in fact we were. We got another free taxi ride to our meeting where we were regaled with the wonders of Regency Hotels and the amazing opportunities for travel if we were to become members. We were on a bit of a tight time frame because we were being picked up at noon to travel to north Bali. In case you are wondering, we did not sign up....but didn't have time for the whole presentation due to our time constraints. We
Plan to go back next week...
So...on to the rest of our day...
We returned to our hotel, richer by two t-shirts and the great free gift of 7 days accommodation at one of he resorts in the brochure...I wonder how many of the prizes are actually the $1000 Australian or the iPad. My guess is not many. This is also my guess at the number of people who take the free holiday. But I digress again.
We were picked up by our host who came for us herself because her driver had backed out. The next three or so hours was spent travelling along the most interesting road....
But first...we booked into the Bamboo Cottages in the village of Sudaji in northern Bali. The advertisement said it was small and traditional, with "rooms" in bamboo huts and traditional meals and activities.
Our host, Puta, is a very interesting person to talk to, so between the scenery and the talking the drive was most enjoyable.
This is a roadside gas stand. Should you be low in gas, you can stop and for about $0.70 you can have a litre of gas put into the tank. In fact, gas at the gas station is about $0.65 per litre and someone pumps it for you. Never in canada moments, both of them. Note that you can also buy fresh corns and watermelon at this gas stand. We saw many of these stands along the road.
Our journey took us through the city and then up a hill and through the jungle. This was narrow winding road like we've never seen. Narrow lanes with no shoulders and scooters an bikes passing whenever there was a free moment. A quick honk to say "I'm here" and the bike zipped by. Driving on the left already seemed strange...add to this being passed on both right and left. And steady traffic. Up down and around...
This roadside work was just one of the many obstacles by the side of the road which further narrowed the driving area. In a couple of places there were signs in the middle of the lane warning of a dangerous situation, or one requiring caution, while creating an even more dangerous situation. There is a calmness about the driving frenzy though in that all people are driving the same way. No one seems concerned if they are passed. If there is a s mall opening a motorbike will take it and does not expect anyone to move, just continue. Watching the traffic was itself an education.
All along the road we saw temples like this one and Puta explained that Hindu families would have their own family temple in their yard and the likely numerous other larger family temples elsewhere. She said that's why Bali was known as the island of 100000 temples...90% of the population is Hindu.
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